Finally. I got around to downloading all pics and videos from this road trip. I’m usually very enthusiastic about taking photos and vids during road trips but once the excitement of the trip simmers down, I’m really really lazy about downloading and editing photos. And this one made me extra lazy coz I couldn’t stop myself from taking photos, and I brought with me three cameras = gazillion photos. Yes, I am really an OC person.

I’m breaking down this whole thing into two parts as I have tons of photos even after I spent a lot of time deciding which one to post. This first part would be about the road trip up and some snapshots of Thansur Bokor Resort. Part two will be some snapshots of the scenes around Bokor.

For so long, we’ve been planning on going up to Bokor National Park well, ever since we got here three years ago. But in the end, this trip always took the backseat coz before this year, the roads weren’t really good, and while we do like to rough it up sometimes, we also have a kiddo to think about, so her comfort takes precedence. But when we heard that the new casino/hotel had its soft opening last March and the roads are now immaculate, we then gave it a go.

Signage - National Road 3 to Kampot

Bokor National Park is located some distance from Kampot. Main attractions would be the ruins scattered in the old French hill station built the French during the 1920′s. Its easy to guess why they picked this place, its super scenic and offers a great respite from the heat of Cambodia’s plains. Free airconditioning. Ha!

Knowing this much, I was very much excited and ready to be impressed by the scenery. I am and always will be a huge fan of nature and fantastic panorama. So we packed our bags for the trip and left Phnom Penh about 7 am. The trip going to Kampot is easy, with pretty scenes of the countryside, occasional towns like the one below..

small Cambodian town along N3

And before we knew it we were in this turn..

..turning right to Phnom Bokor Resort

From here we drove on towards Route 4 for about 8 km and the turn to Bokor National Park came up. There were a lot of workers about the turn, planing the road sides with colorful bougainvilla shrubs. I’m starting to imagine how this place would look like when these plants are big and blooming.

Road Turn to Bokor National Park

Phnom Penh’s tourist lane. This riverside promenade runs side by side with Tonle Sap river on one side and a busy, crammed street full of restaurants, hotels, bars,cafes etc. Its a busy busy street and its where most tourists and expats converge. Early morning and afternoon turns this place into a group exercise haven.

One of Phnom Penh’s landmarks – Wat Phnom. And aside from the shrines, wat and museum in this place, another thing of interest is this ginormous clock embedded on the ground. This thing is also illuminated at night, but I have yet to take photos of that. For now, we’ll have this afternoon snapshot of the Wat Phnom clock.

Two weeks ago, we went up Bokor Mountains to check out the new road and the new resort/casino as well as some sights there. Whenever we go on road trips like this, we usually don’t pack a lot of food, just the basic snacks. The kiddo doesn’t like eating ‘old’ cold food and we always try to eat somewhere local.

We did the same thing this time, but I was also apprehensive if there was any food places up there coz as far as I know the casino has just had its soft opening and not all facilities are operational yet. But I needn’t have to worry as we found out when we got there coz they have a coffee shop as well as an Asian buffet. Check out their web site – Thansur Bokor.

Hungry as we were, it was no brainer that we opted to go buffet. The whole spread cost $6 only. Which was a great great deal coz it was not a measly spread. There were a lot of options, vegetable salads, fruit salads, vegetarian dishes, Asian and stir fried viands, soups, porridge, plain and fried rice, drinks plus lots of breads. I didn’t take photos of the buffet table as there were a lot of people there and  I think it would be rude.

I took snapshots of our plate though. Here’s what hubby and I shared:

my veggie salad. their dressings are really good.

fish fillet with shredded mango salad, pork and tofu saute, some pastries.

my fruit plate. I had two servings of this. It was that good.

I also love the bold decor. I usually think too much color like this becomes an eyesore, but they somehow managed to keep it together. And it was an easy guess that I would beeline for this purple seating. Of course, I could never resist anything purple. Ha!

An entry for:

The summer heat is making me think of and escaping to the beach. While I’m not a huge fan of Occheateul Beach (even if its pretty) in Sihanoukville coz its too crowded, this set up gives the illusion of relaxation. It’s certainly is possible to relax in here if you just master the art of ignoring persistent vendors.

If you want some peace and quiet in Sihanoukville, I would suggest checking out Sokha, Independence or Otres Beaches.

As for my post title, well that’s what I usually call loungers and umbrellas like this. It makes me really want to park my bum and just relax.

One of the must-visit places in Koh Kong, Cambodia – the mangrove forest.

I really ought to be shot. I forgot to update about the Mondulkiri trip last Feb when all the photos have been ready for a few weeks already. I am really starting to be soo forgetful. Being a mom/wife/student/freelance worker can sometimes do that to a person. So I’m resigned to my fates.

Thankfully, a friend of mine asked me about Bousra Waterfalls this morning and I suddenly remembered I had to post about the second day of our trip to Mondulkiri. In case you’ve missed the first part, check it out here – Mondulkiri 2012 Day 1.

~oOo~

We started the day really early coz we had to visit a couple of schools for an outreach project. I was with a group of students whose mission is to help schools in far flung areas with books, school materials etc etc. That time, they were bringing a lot of book donations as well as school supplies for the kids. The ceremony was a bit long and it was around noon time when we left for Bousra Waterfalls.

I was excited to see the falls again. The last time we went to visit this place, its was just awesome (see post here). And I was curious if there has been any changes.

And yup. There has been some changes in the last two years. The road now is nicer. Not concrete or anything but no muddy potholes in them. There were also more people coming and going. Last time we went there, we were the only ones enjoying the places. This time there were lots of families picnicking. A group of monks and several groups of barangs.

I won’t bore you much now with my inane chatter, so here’s the pics spam.

the ‘entrance’

the last tier. and this one’s fairly long and stretches down a hundred meters or so. Not exactly spectacular, but some people like looking down on this so I’m glad to see they built new railings around the sides. It was scary the last time we came when they didn’t have any  fence or railings near this.

The first tier. The volume of water is obviously down if you compare it with my previous photo. I was kinda disappointed even though its still beautiful. Then I remembered, we came this time during the dry season. Lol. Silly me.

postcard pretty!